Signs Around Town
Historic poster in the common room at Friends Meeting of Washington.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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A Weekend of Practice (Ways of Maintaining Focus for the Long Resistance)
This was the first weekend in some time where I did not have any commitments. I knew I’d have to get some errands and correspondence done, but I’d thought it might be nice to find an asana class on Saturday morning. I ultimately decided to go to the opening class at the new Yoga Shala studio in Shaw . I really enjoyed the class, the studio itself has a good vibe, and they are looking to integrate into the neighborhood, sharing the block with Bread for the City. I expect to return. After class, I took a long walk and a good nap and then made a nourishing meal and went to bed early.
On Sunday, I noticed in my “promotion” emails, that Dharma Mittra was leading a day of classes at the convention center; Yoga District had arranged for him to come. I’ve never felt a calling to study with him, but I like Yoga District’s community focus, Dharma Mittra is an iconic figure in Western Yoga, and there he was and there I was and I’ve recently had a few different students ask me about the Dharma yoga classes in town, so I took the master class and stayed for yoga nidra. It was a deep three hours with an enthusiastic group of practitioners. I found some of the darshan of interest, though Dharma Mittra speaks too much of God and is [insert politically correct way to say sexist; he’s 78 and originally from a macho culture]] to resonate with my beliefs, and I prefer more focus on alignment with the physical postures. I liked very much that he says the first principle of yoga is compassion and that one must maintain the state/practice of compassion throughout all the other practices or they do not have any import.
It was good to reinvigorate my practices and my intentions for all that I can offer.
And it was really a treat top watch Dharma Mittra demonstrate poses.
Weather Permitting
More ice in the forecast. Will cross post here and on the Rose Garden Yoga Facebook page, if it is too slippery for a safe walk to practice.
Spring is coming. The cherries in Stanton Park are beginning to swell with the promise of buds.
Found Exhortation
Perhaps it would be more accurate that I sought to get my Covid-19 booster shot (got the flu vaccine last month), and the sign was there. Although I am a low user of Western medicine other than dental and vision care and generally decline testing in the absence of symptoms I cannot resolve through common sense things appropriate to the issue, I make sure that I am vaccinated for all contagious diseases. My medical choice is no longer in any way just about me.
PS Is your tetanus shot current?
- Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Quaker
A Conversation (and Maitri)
This morning, after my morning beach walk, as usual, one of the men at the storefront for an adventure business that’s on the corner before the house I’m staying at called out his usual “hey beautiful lady” thing. I responded to him in Spanish, and we ended up talking for a while.
He asked about my Spanish, as most visitors here (even those who’ve bought condos) don’t seem to have much of the language. I said I’d started studying last year; I was spurred by the current political climate to become competent in Spanish to open opportunities for me to be of service.
In response, he told me that he’d lived in California for over 25 years; his three children were born in the United States. They are still in the US, but he, last year, was sent back to Mexico pursuant to the present administration’s policies.
Later in the day, when I was walking out with my yoga teacher and friends, he greeted us with friendliness, not just the typical marketing greeting.
When I get more capable, I hope to find a way to be of greater service, but expanding the opportunities for friendliness seems a decent start.
Below is a picture of what I’m pretty sure is a curlew (birding experts, please comment and advise) eating an immature crab that I watched in the morning.
